


Fathers And Mothers

by Aestheticdenbrough



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Birthday, Cake, Kids, M/M, anyways kaspbrough are dads, benverly are valid straights, no angst rlly first chapter tbh, second chapter yeah, stanlon are amazing, to their daughter quinn, uncle richard the lonely bisexual bachelor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-05-21 14:43:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14917287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aestheticdenbrough/pseuds/Aestheticdenbrough
Summary: Bill Denbrough is an English teacher at Derry High School, Eddie Kaspbrak is a nurse at Derry Home Hospital. They are in their late twenties, married, and have an adopted four year old daughter named Quinn. The Pennywise stuff did happen in their childhood.





	1. Rainy Sunday

Bill stirs lightly in his slumber, wrapping his arms more tightly around his husband’s waist. He shoves his face into the crook of Eddie’s neck, “Mmm, almost time to wake up, baby,” he murmurs softly. 

“I knowww, just a little more time,” Eddie mumbles in reply, “I’m tired still.” He curls in closer to Bill’s mildly toned chest, turning around to put his face on his peck. “You’re warm, outside of the bed is cold,” he reasons softly.

They don’t get much time before their blonde little girl comes bouncing up onto their bed. “Pstt, dad, papa, it’s _raining,_ ” she says in a hushed but excited tone. She climbs between them, separating the two of them with her little body. 

“Oh? Mmm nice,” Bill murmurs, not thinking about the words. He opens his eyes and hugs his daughter closer to him, feeling a sudden surge of protectiveness.

“Hot chocolate and Disney movies?” Eddie suggests, feeling Bill’s muscles tense up at the mention of the rain.

“ _Nooo, daddy I wanna play,_ ” she complains, squirming around, proving her restlessness, getting her to sit and watch movies all day definitely wouldn’t work. That much is already evident. She sits up, crawling back to the edge of the bed and nudging Bill’s back. “C’mon papa,” she whines, knowing he’d be the one to ask. He never was able to hold up to her whining or begging. 

Bill softens again. “At least let your dad and I make breakfast first?” he asks softly, he couldn’t say no, she sounded too excited about the difference in weather outside. _It’s April, this is going to be a regular occurence_ , he thinks, frowning as he sits up and rubs his eyes.

Eddie sluggishly follows sitting up, glancing at the clock, _she always wakes us up at eight o’clock on Sundays_ , he thinks, but it’s not bitter or upset, just a fact in his mind. After the long adoption process he wouldn’t trade any of this experience for all the full nights of sleep in the world.

Bill swings his legs over the side of the bed, his feet hitting the cool wood flooring, shifting until his feet find his slippers, too half asleep to look down and actually see them. The young girl grabs his hand tightly, trying to drag him out of the room and to the kitchen. 

Eddie follows behind them slowly, a small smile tugging at his lips, this was almost always the best part of his mornings, breakfast with his little family. _The little family I chose for myself._

They all get to the kitchen, Quinn taking her usually place at the table, there were more seats than for just the three of them, they had the other losers over as guests often. Bill puts three pieces of toast into the toaster. He also starts a pot of coffee for he and Eddie, he wasn’t the most efficient in the kitchen so these were his way of helping.

Eddie gets out the bacon, cringing at the raw meat but calming once he’s got in in the pan and his hands washed once again. Next, he cracks a few eggs into a different pan and scrambles them in the pan with his spatula, the laziest way he tends to do this. 

Eddie finishes making the plates, setting them in front of his husband and daughter. “Bon appetit,” he smiles. 

Quinn shovels her food down quickly, wanting to get to what she wanted faster. Once she finishes she looks up at her dads with a smile, “Now?” she asks, offering Bill her best puppy dog eyes.

Bill looks over at Eddie, and out the window. It’s absolutely pouring outside. “Fine,” he forces a reluctant smile towards her direction. “Let’s at least get dressed first?” he remembers, noticing that he didn’t have a shirt on and she was still in her nightgown. 

She bolts off to her room, a skip in her step, when she got her way she got giddy. She came back in a pair of leggings and a dress with long sleeves, neither thing matched the other but Bill and Eddie were both very determined to let her be independant enough to dress herself no matter how ridiculous they thought she looked. 

Bill goes back to his room and puts on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. Eddie still gives him a look, his eyes longing for the couch and the movies on the shelf. “Dress warm,” he reminds Bill, standing up and rubbing his shoulder and walking to the bathroom.

Bill grabs his coat, probably not water-proof but he’d find out. He slides it on over his broad shoulders. He looks around the hall closet for the small pink rain slicker they’d gotten for Quinn last spring. She joins him in the front room, her pigtails bouncing with every step. He helps her get the coat on, pulling the hood over her head. 

He opens the door and can immediately feel the light rush of cool air. At first it’s cold feeling as the light droplets hit the skin on his cheeks, still adjusting to the change in temperature. 

Soon he loosens again, forgetting the memories of his childhood and splashing into a puddle a little more heartily, making his daughter erupt into joyful giggles. Water travels up the denim of his jeans almost halfway up to his knees. She does as he does and splashes, kicking water his way, his jeans already soaked up to the knees, water travels up the fabric. 

He scoops her up in his arms and spins her around in the air a little. “Super-Quinn,” he says with a broad smile. She shrieks happily, something they do normally. 

Eddie watches from the living room window. He shakes his head in disappointment but still smiling lightly at the smiles on his husband and daughter’s faces. He had put some towels and clean pajamas in the dryer to help warm them up once they come back inside. 

They chase each other around the front yard and street for nearly an hour before walking back in, drenched and shivering but with smiles plastered on their faces. 

Eddie was already there with towels, first rubbing Quinn’s face and hair gently, “Oh you guys,” he sighs. He takes her hair out of the pigtails carefully to dry her hair better, meanwhile, Bill still stands there before taking one of the towels from Eddie and starting to dry his own auburn locks. 

“Let’s get you guys changed,” Eddie says once he feels that he’s gotten her hair close enough to dry. Bill responds with a nod and Quinn replies with a smile, glad not to have her head being rubbed at anymore.

Eddie leads them to the laundry room to get the freshly warmed pajamas, helping Quinn get hers on as Bill undresses and redresses himself, feeling safely engulfed in the warmth. Eddie presses a chaste kiss to Bill’s lips.

“Eww,” Quinn giggles and covers her eyes, already embarrassed by how openly affectionate her parents are.

Bill kisses the top of Eddie’s head, “Movie’s now?” he grins, especially seeing the happy smile that takes over Eddie’s face.

“Movies now,” Eddie affirms with a nod, picking Quinn up to take the two of them to the couch. 

They get to the living room, Eddie had put hot chocolate in a cup for Quinn and made tea for he and Bill, he really was prepared at all times. He sits in the middle of the couch, pulling his daughter in his lap and Bill sits next to him, shoulder to shoulder. Eddie picks up the remote, the Cinderella disks still in the box, they do still use disks, although they did stop using VHS.

Cinderella has always been Quinn’s favorite and she immediately perks up, still in Eddie’s lap but she sits up straighter and trains her eyes on the screen, humming along to the Disney opening softly. Eddie tangles his fingers in Bill’s hair, dancing his short nails along his scalp gently. Bill sighs into the touch and softens completely, his head falling to Eddie’s shoulder comfortably.

It’s times like these when Eddie is extremely grateful for his days off. Both he and Bill have work tomorrow so Quinn would be going to play with Ben and Beverly for the day, since Ben mostly worked from home. But for now, it was bliss. The cartoon sound of birds chirping brings a smile to the little girl’s face, and thus to Eddie’s as well. It’s slightly interrupted by a soft snore from Bill, who has fallen asleep cuddled up to Eddie. _Cute_ , Eddie thinks, _not so cute that the cold weather always makes him sniffly though, he snores too much_ , his thought process adds with a chuckle. He presses a kiss to Bill’s forehead, taking the opportunity of him actually staying still. 

“Is papa asleep?” Quinn whispers, looking up at Bill’s calm face and the slow rise and fall of his chest. 

“Mhm, so we should be quiet, shh,” Eddie says softly, brushing his thumb over her shoulder to make her settle down again as the movie continued despite her distraction.

Eventually, both Quinn and Eddie join Bill in sleeping on the couch, a pile of their little family all on top of each other. Eddie awakens again around lunch time, slipping out from under Bill and Quinn to make them something to eat, partially glad to have the kitchen to himself as he does. He just makes some canned soup, since today was a relaxing day. Everyone else had tuckered themselves out in early morning which means the day will be easy for all of them.

He comes back with the soup in mugs and spoons for each of them, setting them on the coffee table before shaking the other two awake. Bill’s eyes open quickly, the blue always surprises Eddie with it’s vibrance. “Hey,” Eddie says calmly, “I made lunch, sleepyhead,” he smiles as Bill sits up, rubbing his eyes to clear his vision a little. 

“F-,” he stops before saying the word, knowing Quinn is sleeping right next to him, “I slept in my contacts again,” he mumbles.

“Bill,” Eddie sighs, “Can you go take them out and wear your glasses today, please?” he asks softly, trying not to seem too controlling of him.

Bill agrees, he’s been thinking of it himself, he disappears to the bathroom as Eddie wakes Quinn up, getting her to sit on the floor in front of the coffee table to eat while he put the Snow White disk in for her. 

Bill returns, wearing the glasses he calls dorky, although nowhere near as thick as Richie’s were. He grabs his mug by the handle and sits back down next to Eddie on the couch where he was already eating. 

“You’re cute in your glasses, don’t even say anything,” Eddie says after swallowing. 

“How do you always manage to read my mind?” Bill chuckles, blowing lightly on the steaming liquid.

Eddie kisses his cheek, “Husband powers,” he says, and he nudges Bill’s elbow gently to remind him to eat. 

After Bill takes the dishes to the kitchen to rinse them and put them in the dishwasher, he comes back to the living room, “Watch a movie with her while I grade papers?” he asks, looking over at the home office longingly, knowing he has a lot of work to do by Monday the next day. 

“Yeah don’t worry about it,” Eddie smiles and ruffles Quinn’s hair playfully. She is easily entertained, they are both glad for that with their busy schedules. 

Once bedtime comes, They have Quinn take a bath and put on her pajamas again. Eddie has her drink a glass of water and helps her brush her teeth before he tucks her in.

Bill comes in behind him, a handful of notecards. He clears his throat loudly to get her attention. “Storytime,” he grins. It was both her and his favorite part of getting ready for bed.

Bill starts on the story, “Once upon a time, there was a princess, whose name may or may not have been Quinn,” he says, raising his eyebrows suspiciously. 

Eddie took on a different demeanor, he almost always somehow acted out the bedtime stories. 

“And she was invited to a fabulous ball,” Bill hands over the notecard he finished reading off to Eddie, who mimed reading it like it was an invitation. “She bought a ravishing gown,” Bill continues, Eddie twirls in a circle as if he was trying on a poofy dress, smiling awkwardly.

“And she dances the night away with her handsome prince,” Bill puts down his note cards, putting one hand on Eddie’s waist and grabbing his hand, Eddie following suit in the position they would be in to waltz. They dance clumsily in a quick square, making her laugh loudly, they even chuckled a little at themselves. 

“Then she went home and her daddies kissed her cheeks goodnight and she slept peacefully until the next morning,” Eddie ends it for Bill, the story always ended the same way despite the daily variations.

Bill and Eddie take turns kissing her on the cheek and she scoots further under her covers, getting more comfortable. They stand in the doorway for a moment, Bill flicks on the nightlight on the way out as Eddie switches the lights off. It’s all like a well oiled machine for them all at this point. They look over at her one last time before looking at each other, Bill bumps his nose against Eddie’s before kissing him gently. Then, they both wordlessly head to bed themselves.

-

They wake up Monday morning around 6:00 a.m.. Eddie wakes up first, putting some Poptarts in the toaster, they never have time for “proper” breakfast on weekdays, since both he and Bill have work. Bill’s alarm goes off next, he rubs his face in effort to wake himself up. He climbs out of bed and to the kitchen. He walks sneakily behind Eddie to wrap his arms around the other boy’s waist. He tucks his face into the crook of his husband’s neck. 

“Morning baby,” he mumbles sleepily. 

Eddie jumps slightly at the surprising touch, “Hey sweetheart,” he says softly putting his hand behind him to run his fingers through the hair hanging in Bill’s face. 

“I’m gonna go get ready,” Bill murmurs, peeling away from Eddie’s body, even though he wishes he could stay there forever.

The shower runs, Bill always takes steamy showers in the morning, claiming that they wake him up the most. He comes back to Eddie in the kitchen a little over 30 minutes later, his hair styled and wearing a sweater and jeans, along with his glasses instead of his contacts. 

“No shirt and tie?” Eddie asks, handing Bill a Poptart wrapped in paper towel, he hates giving them unhealthy breakfasts, “the most important meal of the day”, but it fit their lifestyle the best.

“Nah, wasn’t in the mood,” he chuckles, yawning, “Mondays,” he explains further. “I gotta head out, Monday morning meetings. Love you,” he presses a quick and light kiss to Eddie’s forehead and grabs his sweatshirt over his shoulder.

Next, Eddie wakes Quinn. She’s always been easy to wake, and gets out of bed easily. She really is an easy kid. He gets her dressed and fed, getting himself ready for work before driving her to Ben and Beverly’s house. 

Ben and Bev always watch her on weekdays, both having the opportunity to work from home, and soon Beverly would be on pregnancy leave from work entirely. 

He pulls up to their townhouse and brings Quinn up to the front door, knocking lightly on the door, his hand still holding the one of his kid. Beverly comes to the door, her hand on the growing bump on her stomach, her and Ben’s first child-to-be. She only looks slightly flustered, usually prepared to watch Quinn, especially as preparation for their own.

Quinn brightens at the sight of her (second) favorite redhead (behind Bill). She immediately goes to hug Beverly around the legs happily.

“Oh, hi honey,” Bev says, laughing at her enthusiasm in the early morning. 

“You sure it’s not too much trouble?” Eddie asks, seeing how tired she looks, probably due to how far along she is.

“No! Ben and I love having her around,” she insists, gesturing for Eddie to go back to the car and off to work, she knows he’d hate to be late. 

Eddie nods and gets in the car finally, leaving Quinn with the Hanscoms like usual.


	2. Remembering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm angsty idk enjoy eddie freaking out about taking care of bill

Eddie fumbles with his keys, finally poking them into the keyhole and opening the front door, around 8 o’clock. “Is it cheesy to say ‘honey I’m home?’ even though we’ve been married for six years?” he calls out, expecting them to be in the playroom. He walks in and hangs up his coat on the hook, Bill’s was not hung. 

He walks into living room, spotting Bill on the couch, fast asleep, a tiara on his head, obviously he’d been playing some sort of game with Quinn. She, on the other hand, was kneeling in front of him on the couch, drawing flowers on his face with a washable marker. 

Eddie walks over, wanting to chuckle at the situation. He kneels in front of the couch where Quinn is, “Hey sweetheart, papa’s face isn’t a canvas,” he says with a small smile, “Can you get the wet wipes so we can clean this up?”

Eddie studies Bill’s face, who looks exhausted, his nose looks a little red and raw, and it makes Eddie frown. “Hey, Billy, you up?” he says softly, tapping his face lightly to get his attention.

Bill hardly stirs, turning his back to Eddie and hiding his face in the back of the couch. Eddie frowns again, rubbing circles on Bill’s back gently. “Baby, I don’t know how long you’ve been asleep but you’ve gotta get up, honey,” he says softly. He carefully takes the tiara off Bill’s head, it looked tight enough to hurt. He notices that Bill is still in his coat, the house wasn’t too cold so he must be overheating. 

Quinn comes back with the package of wet wipes, they were easy to find on the shelf in the bathroom. She hands them to Eddie, giving him the puppy-eyed expression. “I’m sorry, daddy,” she says softly, seeing Eddie’s frown and assuming he was upset with her.

“No- no sweetheart it’s fine, I think your papa is just a little sick, I think, you wanna go back to your room?” he asks, taking the package and pulling out a wipe for Bill’s face.

“Is papa okay?” she asks, staying put, if not moving even closer to Bill. 

“Yeah he’s just got a cold, I just wanna clean this up and have him at least drink some water.”

“Mkay,” she says calmly, “When you’re done will you play with me?” she asks, offering another puppy-dog-eyed face. 

“Yeah I’ll be there soon, sweetheart,” he promises, coaxing Bill into turning towards him again. 

She finally leaves the two, scampering off to her room to play with her dollhouse or something. Leaving Eddie to play nurse. Even though that’s his literal career, he feels that he has to do it for his husband far too often. _He really needs to take care of himself better_. He frowns again. 

Eddie gives up on trying to get Bill up, just gently rubbing the flowery scribbled design off his cheeks. It takes him quite a while to get them all off, “Bill, c’mon, you gotta eat dinner, did you or Quinn eat yet?” Eddie looks over at the clock, 8:26.

Bill opens his eyes blearily, putting his hand out to Eddie, who doesn’t accept it. “Mmm no ‘mb sorry,” he slurs out, putting his hands on his face out of shame, he felt like he messed up big time by forgetting to have the two of them eat.

“Hey- hey no baby it’s okay, I know you don’t cook, you obviously aren’t feeling great, I’ll be right back, mkay?” Eddie says softly but quickly, not wanting his husband to feel bad for something that wasn’t his fault, schools really are germ factories.

Bill pushes himself into a sitting position on the couch, fumbling to unzip his jacket, which Eddie does for him instead, “You too hot?” Eddie asks as he helps the disoriented man get his coat off.

Bill shakes his head, “not too bad, my jacket just makes weird noises when I move,” Bill murmurs, getting up to hang it up on his hook. 

Eddie frowns at the sound of his voice, “Have you been feeling bad all day, baby?” it sounded settled in his sinuses which probably wasn’t comfortable. Bill sits back down on the couch and pulls the throw blanket over his shoulders.

“Mmm only a little,” he still speaks softly, curling up a little on the couch, looking small, which was always concerning to Eddie.

“Bill… you should call me if you aren’t feeling well, I think you have a fever, you should have come home,” Eddie said in a disappointed voice. He hates having to be like this, he is Bill’s husband, not his nurse who should be nagging him all day about his choices. 

“‘Mb sorry, Eddie,” Bill tucks his head away in his knees, he’s always most emotional when he doesn’t feel his best.

Suddenly, Quinn comes back in quietly, basically sneaking behind Eddie, he jumps when she speaks. “Papa, you’re awake!” she says with a smile, clamoring to sit next to him on the couch and pushing a fuzzy pink blanket in his lap. “Daddy said you were cold so I brought you a blankie because he was taking too long to make you warm enough to play with me,” she explains, which brings a small smile to Bill’s face.

“Ndo,” Bill cringes at the sound of his own voice, “A little cold but I’m just a little sick, Like two months ago, remember, daddy made you be quiet because he wanted me to sleep,” Bill explains, he was always better at explaining things to little kids than Eddie was. 

“OH, I’m sorry papa,” Quinn says, in a smaller tone, trying to be quieter since he had brought it up.

“I’m gonna make some food,” Eddie says, giving Bill a sympathetic look, he wishes Quinn wouldn’t cuddle so close to him, she was going to get his germs and then she’d be sick too- and he just didn’t want that. “Quinnie, you wanna help?” he asks, trying to pull her away.

She nods excitedly, she loves helping in the kitchen. 

“We’re going to make canned soup for dinner again,” he tells her as they go to the kitchen and both thoroughly wash their hands. He gets out the cans and lets her set them in the automatic can opener. She giggles the entire time, she likes to feel like she’s helping too, and Eddie didn’t let her often. He was just desperate now. 

They put the food in bowls and put them at the table with three glasses of water. Eddie walks back to the living room to find Bill wrapped in both the blankets now and made a note to grab the thermometer after they ate. He shakes Bill’s shoulder again to wake him back up, “Billy, I’m sorry you’re so exhausted but please come eat something,” he says a little desperately. 

Bill easily agrees, just wanting to properly get to bed soon as possible. He keeps the knit blanket from the couch over his shoulders as he drags his feet to his spot at the kitchen table. He swirls his spoon around in his bowl a little, taking some small sips of the broth.

Eddie watches him with pity, seeing him wince at swallowing and needing to be careful so that he could breathe through his mouth when he needed to. Bill puts his spoon down when he’s finished most of it, “shower?” he asks, wanting to take another steamy one to clear his sinuses again before bed.

“Yeah, of course, I’ll do the dishes and get Quinn in bed, I’ll read her Peter Rabbit, it’s been a while, and you shower and get some warm pajamas on, I’ll get the Vicks out too.”

“I still wanna do storytime,” Bill says strongly, “Makes me happy,” he says tiredly. He cringes at the mention of the Vicks, he’s never been a fan of it, he’s too familiar with it. 

“Of course, baby,” Eddie nods, surprised that he is so specific about it, although he should have known.

“Yeah, papa has to tell the story,” Quinn says surely, even as Bill gets up and shuffles to the bathroom. 

Eddie agrees, finally asking Quinn about her day with the Hanscoms as he does the dishes. When she’s finally done talking about all the games they played and the stories they exchanged, Eddie suggests that she goes back to her room to wait for he and Bill to be ready.   
Bill comes out of the bathroom feeling a little better and a little more awake. He has on a baggy and long sleeved shirt, one that’s relatively old and gross but it makes him comfortable. He had pulled on some navy flannel pajama pants. 

Eddie studies his dark circles and angry pink looking nose, creasing his eyebrows in worry. He just doesn’t like when Bill gets so worn down. “Hey Billy, I set up some clean sheets on the couch for you so you’d be comfortable sleeping tonight,” he says softly.

Bill nods, this was standard procedure for when he was unwell, since Eddie may be able to be around germs, but he also still can’t get sick because work. At least Eddie made him feel loved by showering him with care besides physical affection.

They go to Quinn’s room, Bill didn’t write anything new that day either. So, he must wing it. “Once upon a time,” he clears his throat for his voice to come out clearer. “There was a beautiful little princess named Quinn, and one of her fathers, the king, wasn’t feeling well,” he starts with a small smile, finding himself clever.

Eddie just kept his same worried expression, wanting to just put Bill to bed already. He sounded congested still and he would do better with a good night’s rest and he’d probably call him out of work the next day, against the other man’s wishes.

“And he was taken care of by the other big and strong king who made him feel all better really soon so that he could kiss his daughter goodnight,” he finishes the story much quicker than usual, frowning when he realizes he should probably be more careful of spreading this to her.

Eddie kisses both of her cheeks, instead of Bill kissing one of them, “Night, princess,” he says, flicking on the nightlight before switching off the main lights. 

Then he drags Bill out too, bringing him back to the living room couch and having him sit down, “Bill goddamn, you look like Rudolph, if I didn’t know better I’d think you didn’t have proper tissues in your classroom.

“Rand out this mornindg,” he says through the congestion, looking down at the ground.

“Mmm baby, I’m gonna get you more, I think we have some in the linen closet, I’ll be back.” Eddie gets up quickly, ruffling Bill’s hair and walking to the hall closet where he kept most of what he’d need.

He gets out the unopened box of tissues along with the thermometer, Vicks, and a cold and flu medicine before kneeling in front of Bill on the couch again. “I’m gonna fix you right up, don’t worry, baby,” he says softly, rubbing Bill’s shoulder gently.

“I know, Eddie, I trust you,” he says tiredly, leaning into the boy’s touch.  
Eddie pulls the wastebasket nearer to the couch, unwrapping the tissue box and throwing the trash away, handing the box to Bill since he’d need it that night. He gestures for Bill to take off his socks, rubbing the Vicks into his feet, massaging his feet a little longer than he needed to to be more comforting once he sees Bill relaxing more as he does. He pops two pills out of the package and hands them to Bill with a glass of orange juice. “Okay one last thing, lemme take your temperature.”

He pops the thermometer in Bill’s compliant mouth, it’s gotten easier to do this over the years. Bill has slowly gotten easier on him about getting taken care of. While he waits for it to beep, Eddie swipes some more Vicks under Bill’s nose and walks behind him to rub his shoulders, grabbing it from his mouth as soon as it beeps, before Bill can even grab it himself. “100.4, not too bad, you’ll be alright, but I do want you staying home from school tomorrow,” he lets him know, although it wouldn’t be a choice. 

“Mkay, as long as I can get a sub,” he says quietly. He lays down and Eddie lays the blanket over him, running his hands through his still damp hair.

“I’ll help if you need, you just sleep. You’ll be okay for the night?” Eddie asks, continuing to rub his hair carefully.

“Yeah, I just am annoyed that I can’t sneeze,” Bill mumbles, cuddling himself into the couch.

“Lemme help,” Eddie chuckles, booping Bill’s nose ever so lightly and pulling his hand back when Bill wrinkles his nose and buries his face into his elbow to sneeze. “Bless you. Mmm yikes, baby, that sounds like it hurts,” Eddie says softly. 

“Only a little,” Bill replies, closing his eyes, at least he was comfortable now.

“Goodnight, I love you, I’ll be checking on you tomorrow before I leave for work, so I’m sorry that I’ll be waking you around six, I’m just paranoid, and you’d be up by then anyways if you were going to work, and I’ll get Quinn to Bev’s tomorrow morning like usually,” he rambles on, trying to calm himself by talking out loud.

“Eddie-” Bill interrupts softly, “It’s gonna be fine,” he says, looking up at Eddie assuredly.

Eddie nods and goes over to turn the lights off, “You can take more nyquil if you need it, I know the dose isn’t that many, but another capsule shouldn’t have long term damage if you really need it to be comfortable enough to sleep. Eddie turns on the t.v., putting on Cartoon Network, for some reason Bill still always watches cartoons to fall asleep when he doesn’t feel well, although Eddie does find it adorable. “Sleep well, baby, I hope you wake up feeling better tomorrow.

Bill nods and hums happily, snuggling into the couch and blowing Eddie a kiss, “I love you,” he murmurs out, although it comes out more like “I wuv you,” due to the lack of enunciation.  
A few hours later Bill shoots up into a sitting position, his face wet with tears and sweat, still choking out a panicked sob even in his conscious state. He puts his face in his hands and tries to calm himself, but he’d awoken from a nightmare. He wasn’t on his PTSD medication anymore. It didn’t usually affect him anymore. Sometimes though, it came back with fever dreams. He felt himself reimagining Georgie’s death over and over in his head. He feels like he can’t breathe. _Just like when Pennywise had me in a chokehold._ He chokes out another sob, forcing himself to stand up and shuffle to he and Eddie’s room with the blanket still around his shoulders, a mess of coughing and hyperventilating and crying as he opens the door.

“E-Eddie,” he pauses to try to catch his breath, coughing roughly into the blanket.

“Bill?” Eddie wakes up slowly at first and then sits up quickly and is at Bill’s side in seconds. “Baby, baby, what’s wrong?” he coos softly and ushers Bill over to the bed, having him sit and rubbing his back.

“Dr-dr-druh-dreams, G-g-g-g-georgie,” Bill fumbles the words out and leans into Eddie with almost all his weight. Eddie holds him close, pulling him between his legs and rubbing his back with one hand and his hair with the other.

“Sweetheart, it’s just the fever, baby you didn’t do anything wrong,” Eddie murmurs to him softly, trying to be comforting to him because it was distressing to see him in this stage of a panic attack.

Bill coughs again, the hyperventilating wasn’t doing his clogged chest any good. He starts to regulate his breathing and calm into Eddie. “‘M s-suh-suh-suh-sorry, cuh-cuh-can you tuck muh-me in again? Buh-buh-but first cuh-can we check on Qui-Qui-Qui-Quinn, I’m sc-scuh-scuh-ared,” he breathes out. 

“Billy baby, sleep here for the rest of tonight, I don’t want you alone like this,” Eddie says worriedly, pressing the back of his hand to Bill’s neck, “You’re burning up, baby,” he fingers the sweaty short hairs at the back of Bill’s neck. 

“Stay here, I’m getting the ibuprofen,” Eddie says, pushing Bill onto the bed.

Eddie gets the bottle of fever reducers and rustles around for a washcloth to get damp with cool water. Quinn shuffles out of her room, her teddy bear in her grip, “Is papa alright?” she asks, having heard the chaos.

“He’s just not feeling well, he had a bad dream,” Eddie finds a soft cloth and brings it to the sink and turns the water to cold, running it over the cloth and wringing it out before deciding it’s good enough to bring back to Bill.

“Can I help?” she asks softly, rubbing her eyes.

Eddie looks down, considering it. Maybe it would help Bill calm down if she were there for at least a few minutes, and that’s all he’s about right now. He just wants Bill to feel better. “Alright honey, just for a while, you really need sleep too, so he doesn’t get you sick.”

He brings the things back to the bedroom, grabbing the tissue box and wastebasket on his way back to the bedroom. “Hey Billy, Quinn was worried,” he says as he makes Bill sit up again, putting the cool cloth on the back of Bill’s neck. 

Bill shivers at the sudden coolness but finds comfort in it eventually. “Qui-qui-qui-quinnie the pooh,” he smiles, putting his arms out for a hug. She crawls into his lap, a little confused by the sound of his words. 

“Papa you sound like a frog,” she giggles lightly. 

“Mhm, I knuh-know,” he croaks out in his hoarser voice. 

“You need sleep, papa,” she says softly. “I gotta go back to bed.” She starts to get up, and Eddie is glad to notice that he already seems a little calmer.

“I pruh-pruh-promise I’ll get some rest. Tea p-puh-party redo tomorrow?” he asks tiredly, cuddling up to Eddie.

“Mhm,” she says, already on her way back to her bed, yawning. She’s always been pretty independant, which was good in this situation. 

Bill lays back on Eddie, relishing in the comfort of the cool cloth and gratefully taking the bottle of pills, swallowing three with the water on the bedside table. Eddie lays back, Bill immediately crawling on top of him. Bill was basically entirely on him, his legs straddling his hips and his head on his chest. The rise and fall of Eddie’s breathing slowly calmed him the rest of the way.

“Thank you, Eddie,” he says softly, “‘M sorry for being so needy,” he mumbles.

“No, sweetheart, you’re fine, I shouldn’t have left you out in the living room alone, I know a lot of your triggers have been around and I should have known it would be really bad soon,” Eddie says softly, running his fingers through Bill’s hair lightly.

“I can’t lose you two,” Bill murmurs as he slowly starts to drift to sleep again. Bill’s stuffed up snores fill the air again soon after and Eddie feels a twinge of guilt in his chest. 

_I really can’t just keep hurting him because of my own phobias. I know my mom sucked, but his parents were the opposite, I can’t help but feel like them_. Eddie almost starts crying at the realization. Eddie has trouble sleeping due to the intense smell of Vicks right in his face. He falls asleep with his hands tangled in Bill’s hair, Quinn walks back in with her blanket and he teddy, cuddling up to Eddie’s side, never one to pass up sleeping in her dad’s bed.

As promised, Eddie is up by six in the morning to shower, squirming gently out from under Bill to get ready for another day of work. He showers quickly and comes back to the bedroom to get dressed and then wake Quinn. He’s mindful of the fact that Bill’s nose is still running in his sleep, which sends a shiver down his spine as he tries to clean his face up with a tissue.

He shakes the small blonde one until she wakes up fully, attached to her papa’s warm body. “Morning, Quinnie,” he says softly, picking her up to take to her room to get her in clothes for the day. He gets her dressed and makes her a quick piece of peanut butter and banana toast, at least healthier than yesterday’s meal.

“Thank you, daddy,” she says, eating her toast slowly as she grabs her coat for when they leave. 

Eddie texts Beverly asking if Quinn could stay until eight that day, not wanting to leave his ailing husband with her for two hyper hours before Eddie could be home. She says it’s fine, sending Bill her well wishes.

Eddie hears a pained squeak from the bedroom, quickly walking over and peaking in, Bill had curled up under the blankets in a tight ball. He’d stifled back a sneeze in hopes he could stay silent and not have Eddie worry about him at all before work.

“Billy, you know that can burst your eardrums,” he hums in a tone of disappointment. 

Bill peeks just his eyes out from under the covers, embarrassed to have been caught. “‘M sorry, didn’t wanna bother you too much before work,” he says, sitting up and rubbing his eyes to alleviate some pressure in his sinuses that had ignited a headache. 

“It’s fine, Bill, as long as you’re up I’m gonna have you take some medicine, alright?” he says, although Bill can tell the question isn’t really a question. “Mike is coming over later, wanted to make you something to eat, since you don’t seem to do that much when I’m not here but food is important for healing.”

Bill just nods, “I’ll be fine today, Eddie, no more panic attacks, I promise.”

Eddie frowns a little, “I just feel guilty leaving you again,” he sighs, walking over and kissing Bill’s temple. “You’re still warm, what if your fever spikes again?” Eddie asks softly, about two seconds away from calling into work sick. He never missed work, he never got sick himself, he decides that he may as well use it for Bill. 

Bill turns to the side opposite of Eddie to cough into his elbow, sighing and laying back.

“That’s it- I’m calling in to work to take care of you,” Eddie says, pulling out his phone and leaving no room for argument. Bill whines and looks over at him.

“Babe, I don’t want you missing work because my students are actually germ factories,” he mumbles, turning to lay on his stomach and cuddle his pillow. 

“No, I wanna stay and make sure you’re alright,” Eddie says, gaining more confidence every time he repeats himself.

Eddie was in his sweatpants and a tee-shirt already, seeing as he had to change into scrubs when he got to work anyways. He crawls back into bed next to his husband and cuddling up to him, “I’m staying right here.”

Then, Quinn pulls off her coat and climbs in next to them again, “Me too?” she asks softly.

“Oh shit, yeah I gotta text Bev,” Eddie says in a hushed voice, pulling out his phone to let her know. 

“Eddie, language,” Bill says softly, curling up with his face in Eddie’s chest. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Eddie says distractedly, typing away on his phone. She responds quickly, only a little frustrated with the sudden change in plans, but she understands.

“How about I fill you with medicine again and then you take a nap, how does that sound?” Eddie asks softly, playing with Bill’s hair gently.

Bill cuddles closer to the other for a moment before releasing his tight grip on Eddie’s waist. “Mkay, as long as you come back,” he says softly, letting Eddie wriggle out of his place in bed again. 

Quinn pulls herself closer to her dad, snuggling into his chest, “I miss you when you go to work, papa,” She says softly.

Bill feels guilty when he hears this, although he knows he can’t help it. “I’m sorry, I’m home now,” he replies softly. 

They lay quietly until Eddie comes back with a small bottle of cough syrup and some Dayquil pills. “Here, sit up and take these, I’ve got tea for you too,” he says softly, pulling Quinn off of him gently and pulling him into a sitting position. 

“You’re the best,” Bill hums, taking the small cup of red liquid and knocking it back, and then swallowing the pills easily. Eddie hands him the mug of tea, which he sips carefully before laying back down. “I’m still sorry, but hold me?” he asks softly, putting his arms out, beckoning Eddie to lay beside him.


	3. Amber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beverly has her baby, the rest of the losers come into play.

The Kaspbrak-Denbrough family awakes again the next morning, having actually slept the entire day away. Bill wakes feeling worlds more alive than he had before. Bill is actually the first to get up the next day, shaking Eddie awake, “Mmm babe how long was I out?”

Eddie had woken up at some time the day before, having he and Quinn eat dinner but not wanting to wake Bill, since sleeping is probably doing him good. He just ordered pizza, something easy and not overly taxing.

“You’ve been asleep for at least 24 hours, you should shower,” he says softly, rubbing Bill’s back slowly but firmly. 

Bill nods softly in agreement, “Mkay,” he says sleepily. He sits up and gets out of bed, grabbing another pair of pajamas. He disappears into the bathroom to take a hot shower, the heat feels soothing overall. 

He comes out feeling refreshed and completely awake again, almost human feeling again. He walks back into the bedroom, dressed and relaxed. He sees Eddie looking stressed and typing furiously on his phone. 

Eddie looks up quickly when Bill finally walks in, “Bill,” he says quickly, “Bev had her baby.”

It takes a second for the information to sink in for Bill. when it finally does he’s already slipping his socks on his feet and shoving his sneakers on without even untying the laces. “We gotta go be there for it,” he insists. 

Eddie nods in agreement, “Yeah, you sure you up to it?” he asks worriedly.

“Yeah, I feel worlds better, besides, this is a big deal,” Bill insists further, quite persuasive once he’s fully awake. 

“Yeah, of course,” Eddie says softly, grabbing his own shoes and socks. He pulls his on a little less hastily than Bill had. 

“Hey, Quinnie, can you get your shoes on?” Bill asks gently, grabbing his wallet and his phone, putting his watch on quickly. 

“Yeah, why are we rushing?” She asks, she creases her eyebrows in worry, looking incredibly confused.

“Auntie Beverly is having her baby,” Bill smiles softly and starts walking to the living room and then to the front room to grab his coat off the hook where Eddie had put it away once he fell asleep on Monday.   
Eddie grabs two water bottles and fills Quinn’s sippy cup with orange juice, wanting them to at least drink something if they were going to leave the house early and without having breakfast. 

Once they have everything situated and Quinn is strapped into her car seat, Eddie made Bill at least take some Dayquil before leaving, just in case. Eddie drove, not trusting Bill with his car as much as he trusts himself, he takes good care of his car. 

They arrive at the hospital and then they wait. And wait. Until finally a joyous Ben comes bursting out of the room, “I have a daughter,” he says quickly, stumbling over his own words with his own giggles getting in the way.

Both Bill and Eddie stand up immediately to envelop Ben in a congratulatory hug. “I’m so happy for you,” Eddie whispers softly before they all pull away. 

Ben leads them into the room where Beverly is laying calmly in the hospital bed, although her face is still red from crying. But otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to tell, she looked serene with the child wrapped in a white blanket in her arms. She cooed softly and stroked the baby’s cheek, impressed with her body’s ability to make something so beautiful. 

Bill and Eddie walk over, Quinn standing in the corner, not sure what to make of the situation. Beverly smiles softly at them, exhausted from the effort. “Does she have a name yet?” Bill asks. 

“Amber,” Beverly says softly, smoothing the blanket gently again. “You hair is winter fire, January embers, my heart burns there too,” she recites the reasoning behind the name softly, stroking the baby’s hair, which already had an obvious tint of red.

“That’s a really pretty name,” Eddie says, Bill responding with a small nod. Ben and Beverly seem over the moon about the new baby and Bill and Eddie couldn’t be happier for them. 

“Congratulations, Bev,” Bill adds, remembering how happy it had been when they finally officially adopted Quinn, he assumes this feeling must be similar. Although different, he almost feels bittersweet about the fact that he wouldn’t feel what Ben is feeling right now, but he also doesn’t think he’d ever want to change anything about his life. 

“Thanks, Bill, now I’ll know how being a parent is, eh? You’ll have to help me through, I’ve never changed a diaper before, except maybe Quinn’s a few times,” Bev chuckles lightly.

“Yeah, I’m here to help, especially since you watch my kid all week,” he chuckles, beckoning for Quinn to get out of the doorway and come closer to see the baby.

The small girl walks up to him, hiding a little behind Bill. “She’s really small.” 

“Yeah, babies tend to be,” Bill chuckles. 

Soon, Stan and Mike come bursting into the hospital room with a gift bag and their twins in tow. “Bev, Ben!” Mike says enthusiasticallly, handing the bag to Ben since Beverly’s arms were already holding the only gift he really wanted to hold. 

Bev passes the baby carefully to Mike, the baby still asleep. Mike coos quietly, remembering when Andy and Jenny were this small, scared to hurt her just because he’s so much bigger than her. 

Stan gasps a little in surprise, “oh!” he takes her carefully, “Hi little baby, please don’t cry at me I still don’t know how to deal with that,” he says jokingly, though his voice quivers fearfully.

Eddie, who works in the NiCu sometimes, laughs lightly at how two grown men are so scared of such a tiny human. Though, he can’t talk, for he is scared of spiders that are much much smaller. “Stan, babies cry, it’s fine,” he says softly as he takes the baby from him gently, not sure that Stan was supporting her neck enough. 

Quinn had long since attached herself to Bill’s leg, having never really been faced with this type of situation. It wasn’t anxiety over her parents friends, she knows them all well. Definitely not anxiety over the hospital, Bill was a little protective over her and would often at least bring her here to Eddie if Eddie wasn’t already home. Maybe it could even be distressing to her that Beverly didn’t look as comfortable as she always does, but the most likely cause was the baby that was currently in her dad’s arms. 

Bill looks down at her, russling her blonde locks with a little chuckle, “Cat got your tongue, chatterbox?” he teases, lifting her up into his arms to level her with the baby, trying to make her less intimidated.

Quinn studies the sleeping expression, how Amber’s face is red and wrinkly, looking back up at her papa with confusion, “I thought babies were supposed to be cute?”

Bill suppresses a chuckle, “they are, you just have to remember that they’re babies and not big people, you looked like that as a baby,” he smiles, trying to give her a close enough explanation.

She seems to accept the answer, studying the smaller child with a fascination only a child’s eyes can hold. At one moment it seems to click and the fascination turns more to caring, reaching out to poke the baby’s cheek, to which Bill responds by pulling her hand back.

“Hey, hey,you shouldn’t touch her face unless you’ve washed your hands,” he explains, moving away because it seemed Mike was going to hold her again. 

“You look-,” Mike pauses, adjusting how he was supporting her neck at Eddie’s instructions, “Just like your mom,” he smiles, looking over at Bev with a bright expression. 

Bev smiles back reassuringly, looking down at Ben’s thumb stroking her hand, a certain comforting feeling in the surreal moment she was in. 

The serene was suddenly interrupted by a loud and lanky man bursting through the door, “AY! And her Uncle Dick is here,” he grins, handing a bag to Ben, obviously a bottle of wine of some sort, “For the m’lady who hasn’t been able to drink for nine months,” he grins, a hint of his British guy voice sneaking into his words. “Sorry I’m late to the party y’know, walk of shame, wanted to at least brush my teeth for you guys,” he smiles with no actual hint of shame. 

“Richie,” Bill grins, walking over to him with a proud pat on the back with the hand that was not holding his daughter, “not around the kids, but was she at least pretty?” he whispers the second part with a mischievous grin.

“Ah she was gorgeous,” Richie speaks back with a smile that takes up half his face, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he spots the baby in Mike’s arms. “Gimme gimme gimme gimme,” he says quickly, reaching his arms out, “please?” he asks as an afterthought, his excitement having gotten the best of him. 

Mike just smiles in understanding and passes her over, settling her head in the crook of Richie’s arm. “Geez, Rich, you reek of cigarette smoke, couldya not right before meeting a brand new baby?” he asks, though he knows the answer and there isn’t any real bite to his tone. 

“Nah, Mike, it’s part of the Uncle Dick charm, can’t let her miss out because she’s a newbie” he smirks, bouncing the baby around lightly to try and entertain her, she’d obviously awoken at his dramatic entrance. 

Andy and Jenny sit quietly in their chairs, Jenny swinging her legs restlessly, “daddy, when do we get our ice cream?” she asks, swinging her legs a little more violently. 

“And I thought they were just well behaved, Stan, a bribe, really?” Eddie smirks, trying not to crack up at the idea of _Stanley Uris_ only being able to control his kids by bribing them with ice cream, it got him laughing hard enough to need his inhaler, which Bill pulls out of his pocket and hands over as soon as he hears his husband wheezing. 

Stan can offer no explanation besides a sheepish smile. “Ice cream, or at least the promise of it, can make any kid sit still,” he says softly, obviously not really wanting to preach his parenting tactics.

Mike chuckles lightly too, “Hey, I’m slightly in the wrong here too, I was the one who said we could add chocolate chips if they didn’t tell,” he glares jokingly at the twins, “looks like we won’t be getting chocolate chips,” he jokes, he probably would anyways because he can never say no to them. 

“Papa, I want ice cream,” Quinn says quickly, shooting Bill her puppy dog eyes. Bill is one of the few who can resist them sometimes, seeing as he knows he has always pulled the same thing.

“Sometime soon, not today, alright?” he answers, pulling her higher up around his waist. 

“I can get you some ice cream, kiddo,” Richie says, sneaking up behind Bill and nabbing his daughter, Bill only then realizing that the baby was back in Beverly’s embrace. 

“Richie,” Bill says firmly, “This weekend maybe?” he suggests, since when it came to his kid he would rather make plans days in advance, he probably has more separation anxiety than she has ever had. 

“Alright, Billiam, you win this time,” Richie says, even after all these years, most of the losers have trouble defying Bill’s authority, which he still hardly realizes. “But I can still- tickle monster!” he exclaims, dipping Quinn down and dancing his fingers wildly over her torso, which has her erupting into unstoppable giggles.

“She’s gotten so big, eh? They grow up too fast, I can’t even blink,” Mike comments, looking over to his own twins sitting in their respective spots, “I can’t believe they’re seven already, and Quinn is almost five,” Mike sighs. “Grow faster than bean sprouts,” he adds in conclusion.

“That they do,” Ben sighs fondly, looking around at all the kids in the hospital room, “Amber is going to be as tall as me sooner than I know I’ll be ready for,” he predicts, looking at his tiny daughters face with such a softness bev had only ever seen. 

Eddie pulls out his phone, taking a picture, realizing the time after, “Hey- uh guys we’d better get going, it’s time for Quinn’s nap and I’m probably going to make Bill go back to bed too,” he notifies, eyeing his tired husband, the adrenaline having worn off a bit. 

"Weeks of no sleep catch up to you," Bill says sheepishly, running his fingers through his hair. 

"I don't _wanna_ go home and take a nap," Quinn whines, grabbing protectively onto Richie. "'s too _boring_ ," she pouts, the same puppy eyed look Bill tends to give him to get what he wants.

"We'll let you play with the baby another day?" Bev suggests from her spot on the bed as Richie gently puts Quinn back onto her own two feet.

Eddie picks Quinn up on his own. "Yeah, another day when you and the baby aren't so sleepy," he explains, lifting Quinn up to his hip. She gives a tired nod and decides to sink into Eddie's grip and stop arguing with him. 

Bill nods as well, giving Ben a final hug and a smile in the direction of all his friends. He ruffles Jenny's hair and tells Andy to stay cool, something he tells the kids on a regular basis. 

After a few more stray goodbyes, they head out the door, and with the excitement wearing off, Quinn falls asleep before she's even strapped into her car seat. Which is exactly what Eddie expected. He slides into the driver's seat with a smile, "told you," he says to Bill with a smirk.

Bill returns a lazy smile, "I didn't doubt you, love," he chuckles, tugging the seatbelt over himself. He messes with the air and the music channel, earning a look from Eddie when he changes it to the 80s station.

"Oh, William," Eddie sighs, putting the key in the ignition. He pulls out of his parking spot and out of the hospital parking lot. Bill rolls his window down, sticking his arm out of the window just a little. Eddie smiles at this, god how he knows how much his husband likes the feeling of wind on his skin.

"Oh you expected that channel," Bill grins, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" coming on next. Bill gives Eddie a devilish smile before singing along to it teasingly.

"Oh shut up, Bill- you're already like losing your voice, your voice sounds dead," Eddie rambles, partially teasing but still a bit worried. He looks over at his husband warily whenever his voice cracks over not even the highest notes, but reminds himself that Bill can't even hit those on a good day. 

Bill shakes his head slowly and just goes to humming the tune. He taps his finger on his knee to the beat, bobbing his head along with it. Eddie can't help but smile at Bill's obvious love for music.

Eddie pulls into the garage of the flat, parking in his spot. He lets the song finish up before getting out of the car with Bill, going to the back seat to pick Quinn out of her seat, she stirs a bit, grasping onto him in her sleep. Eddie smiles, "oh lookit her, I wish they'd always stay this little," he hums to Bill. 

"Oh god I just remembered she's going to grow up someday," Bill says, looking over at Eddie with wide eyes but a teasing grin.

"Bill! No! That's not allowed!" Eddie whisper yells, dragging Bill over to the elevator to get to their place. Bill keeps making teasing faces at him, being quiet to try not to wake Quinn up, she looks too peaceful when she sleeps for that to be something forgivable.

They walk through their front door, Bill bending down a bit to press a sweet kiss to Eddie's cheek. "Bed? Couch?" He suggests, Eddie just shrugging and walking towards Quinn's room. He lays her in bed, gently pulling her shoes off and pulling the blanket over her, Bill switches off the light, ruffling the sleeping child's hair slightly. 

Bill and Eddie head back out to the living room, settling on the couch, Eddie tucked into Bill's arm. "I have some papers to grade before tomorrow,"Bill says softly, but not wanting to move from his spot.

"Those can wait," Eddie says peacefully, melting into Bill's side, more vulnerable when it's just the two of them. They both are. "Just stay here for now?" He asks, trying to mimic bill's own puppy dog eyed expression to him.

"Yeah, they can," Bill agrees softly, putting his head on top of Eddie's and taking a deep breath in. "They're about of mice and men, that damn book," he chuckles slightly.

"Oh the one I'm pretty sure made you cry in ninth grade?" Eddie grins, tracing his finger over the pattern on Bill's shirt.

"That's the one," Bill agrees, wrapping his other arm around Eddie.

Quinn comes out after a bit more of their teasing. They immediately stop when they see her amble into the room, sitting on the couch next to them, snuggling up to Eddie's side, still not fully woken up. "Daddy? Papa? Where do babies come from?" She asks curiously. 

Bill's face goes nearly white. "Uh-uh your father and I couldn't figure it out so uh- we just decided to buy you from the baby store," he mutters out awkwardly, Eddie shooting him an embarrassed look.

Quinn comes out after a bit more of their teasing. They immediately stop when they see her amble into the room, sitting on the couch next to them, snuggling up to Eddie's side, still not fully woken up. "Daddy? Papa? Where do babies come from?" She asks curiously. 

Bill's face goes nearly white. "Uh-uh your father and I couldn't figure it out so uh- we just decided to buy you from the baby store," he mutters out awkwardly, Eddie shooting him an embarrassed look.  
.  
Eddie sighs and looks over at his puzzled daughter. "Some mommies and daddies can make babies together with their bodies. Some mommies and daddies can't, and mommies and mommies and daddies and daddies can't do it by themselves, you came from another mommy and daddy who thought you'd be better off with us," he explains, hoping it's not too much for his young daughter to comprehend.

"Oh," she says simply, seeming to understand, "can we watch Cinderella again?" She asks almost immediately after.

Bill cracks a smile, "of course we can," he responds, reaching for the remote.


	4. Candles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally Quinn's fifth birthday!

The sun peers through the sheer pink curtains, leaving a sunset shade across the entire room. Eddie creeps over to the doorway, creaking it open just a bit more to see his sleeping daughter. 

"Bill, look," he whispers, gesturing for Bill to come over and see. "Can't believe she's getting old," he adds, turning to bill and wrapping him in a hug.

Bill smiles softly, holding Eddie close to him, "oh god remember when we adopted her?" He reminisces, "she was so small."

"She was what? Three months?" Eddie remembers, pulling away put sliding his hands down into Bill's. "God, Bill, we've been parents," Eddie says with a grin.

"She's fucking five today, that's like- half way to ten," bill teases Eddie, pulling away to take only one of Eddie's hands and lead him to the kitchen. "Got the cake last night, freezer," he reminds, going to the drawer to find some candles.

Eddie pulls the pink decorated cake from the freezer, setting it on the counter to admire it for a little, "it's really pretty, decorated nice, store bought cakes for the win," he grins as Bill comes over with the number five candle.

"The cake is for later, but I also got a cupcake for breakfast, went all out," he grins, going to grab the cupcake from the fridge, "sugar high all day long," he chuckles.

"Ohmygod, Bill, that's the placebo effect," Eddie laughs, letting Bill open the plastic container before shoving the candle into the small cake. 

"Still works, doesn't it?"

"Well that's how it fucking works, William," Eddie teases, shoving bill's shoulder playfully.

"She's going to be so excited, that's the point," Bill smiles, picking up the cupcake with both of his hands, being careful not to smudge the flowers frosted onto the top.

"You ready?" Eddie smiles, putting his hand on Bill's shoulder with a grin.

"I can't believe she's fucking five," bill says as they start to walk to the bedroom, creaking her door open carefully, and slowly the two of them start whispering singing Happy birthday. 

She wakes pretty easily after hearing her fathers, turning in her bed to face the direction of the door and opening her eyes. As soon as she sees the cupcake she shoots right up into a sitting position, a huge smile on her face. Exactly what Eddie and Bill had been going for.

"Happy biiiiiirthday deaaar Quinnie," Bill grins, "happy biiiiiirthday to you," he finishes, sitting on the bed next to his daughter. Quinn looks excitedly at the cupcake.

"Make a wish, sweetheart," Eddie smiles, kneeling in front of them.

She looks at them for reassurance before blowing as powerfully as she can at the candle. "What did you wish for, Quinnie?" Bill asks, pulling the candle out of the cupcake, licking the frosting off.

"Can't tell you, won't come true," she smirks defiantly, taking the cupcake quickly, licking the Flowers off the top first.

Eddie shakes his head slowly but grins anyways, "Billy, how silly of you, you taught her that," he chuckles.

"Just making sure she remembers," Bill says with a smile, smoothing his hands over Quinn's hair and standing up as Eddie does, standing behind Eddie with arms wrapped around his waist. "Party in a few hours, should probably get ready," he says more to remind himself than his husband.

"What do you even wear for a birthday party for a five year old? Cargo shorts?" Eddie jokes, turning his head back a little to kiss bill's cheek.

"Guess so, don't suppose it matters?" He chuckles, separating from Eddie carefully, "hey, Quinnie, I'm gonna shower, you finish that, throw the wrapper away, and then daddy and I have another surprise for you," Bill grins.

"What's the surprise!?" Quinn asks loudly, eliciting a wince from Eddie, her eyes wide.

"It's a surprise for a reason," Eddie teases, taking bill's hand to lead him to the bathroom, "now go shower, William, you reek," he jokes, pushing Bill the rest of the way out of the door.

Quinn goes about finishing her cupcake quickly, sitting on her bed, swinging her legs back and forth excitedly as she waits for them to return. After what seems like forever, the two come back freshly showered with a shiny pink bag, handing it to her with a proud grin.

She tears it open, tissue paper littering the floor as she does, pulling up some fabric to reveal a satin pink princess dress, hopping up onto her feet to wrap her dads in a tight hug for the three of them. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She exclaims, a smile as wide as her face plastered on.

"You're welcome," Bill grins, he'd picked it out, he's always been an expert gift giver, and the reactions always made the searching worth it.

"Go on, we'll finish getting ready, guests will be here soon," Eddie smiles, "Put on the new dress, shoes in there too," he grins.

An hour later, a knock comes from the door before the figure lets himself in, "Uncle Richard is here! Come give'im a hug," he shouts, grinning brightly.

"Richie! Richie!" Quinn shouts back, holding the skirt of her dress up as she runs into his arms, him lifting her and spinning her around.

"I hear someone is five too, eh?" He smirks, pulling a card out of seemingly nowhere and handing it to Bill and Eddie to hold onto.

"I am!" Quinn shrieks happily, putting her arms around Richie's neck, "What's my present?" She asks seriously without losing her childish smile.

"I gave your daddies money to let you pick something," Richie grins, holding her above his head with his hands under her arms, "I love your dress! Fit for a princess!" He proclaims, putting her back on the floor and ruffling her hair.

"Ooooooh!" She shrieks out, jumping up and down once after Richie returns her to the floor. She scrambles back to the kitchen, admiring her cake from the floor, sneakily reaching her finger up to take a dab of frosting, but Eddie notices, lifting her up and away from the cake.

"That's for later, sweetheart," he reminds with a chuckle, bringing her back out to the living room and plopping her on the couch.

Someone peeks through the left open door, which proves to be none other than Stanley Uris, followed by Mike and their kids, Andy and Jenny.

Mike was carrying a small lilac wrapped box, a white ribbon tied around it, handing it off to Bill as soon as he sees him. Bill takes it, hugging Mike with his free arm, "Thank you for coming!" He greets, putting the box on the coffee table with the card from Richie. 

"We wouldn't miss it for the world," Mike grins, patting Bill's back before releasing him from the hug. Andy and Jenny stand behind Mike's legs, "Sorry, they're going through a 'shy' phase," Mike explains.

"Ah, I understand," Eddie jumps into the conversation, returning from small talk with Stan, multitasking as he watches Quinn to make sure she doesn't try again to deface the cake.

"Yeah, happens to all kids, Stan here never grew outta it!" Richie jokes, his voice a little too loud, clapping a hand on Stan's shoulder. 

Stan gives Richie a scowl, a look that could kill if looks could. "Beep beep," he says dryly, like they always have, though they always thought they'd grow out of it.

"Ah c'mon Stanny! Just one!" Richie complains. He turns to Eddie next, "How's that mom'a yours?" He asks, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"You know I haven't talked to her in years," Eddie sighs, fidgeting awkwardly with his fingernails.

Richie softens slightly, "Yeah, sorry Eds."

"It's fine," Eddie sighs, disappearing into the kitchen to sort the food situation.

Bill looks a bit awkward for a moment until he meets Stan's gaze, "Bev and Ben are coming soon!" He announces, changing the subject as quick as he can. 

As if on cue, the two arrive, a baby carrier in tow. "We miss anything?" Ben asks as he opens the door wider, not wanting to jostle the carrier on the frame. 

"Not really," Stan shrugs, "Eddie, they're here!" He calls to the kitchen, rapping his knuckles on the kitchen door.

"Coming!" Eddie calls back, already calmed down from the incident. He comes in a few seconds later, carrying the cake out with two hands, five glowy candles propped up from in the frosting.

The group awkwardly starts singing, slow and off pitch, Quinn grinning huge and Bill videoing the entire thing on his phone.

Eddie reaches Quinn on the couch, prompting her to blow the candles out at the end of the song, her struggling with them immediately. It takes several minutes of her huffing and puffing for Eddie, chuckling, to admit that they were joke candles, not meant to be blown out easily like that.

He removes them for her, "Alright, everyone! Kitchen, cake!" He commands, already leading the 11 of them to the kitchen door.

He sets it on the counter, cutting it into thin slices, passing a piece to each person as he does, saving the largest piece for his own daughter, "And, here you are," he says with a happy finality in his voice, relieved that they've made it this far without disaster, he's always feared planning kids parties, but at least none of Quinn's had gone wrong.


End file.
